I’ve made a few comments about Romania being my favorite country on the race and figured a blog would be the best way to describe my wonderful experience.
The first day we arrived in Romania, one of our contacts took us to the top of a large hill in Dragensti-Olt to pray for the city. The word I heard in my thoughts as I prayed that day was despair, which means lack of hope. Later that day, this key word I heard in the Spirit was confirmed when Raul told our group the reasons behind the name Hope Church. Within the first 24 hours God had already spoken to me in the Spirit and provided confirmation; little did I know He would be confirming many other things during my time serving in Romania.
For the duration of the month I worked in the office with two other teammates as Raul’s administrative assistants. Some days we accomplished more tangible tasks than others, but often we would listen, learn, and discuss scripture with Raul. It was the perfect work environment for me….an office and a continuously on-going Bible study.
After a couple of weeks working in the office and studying scripture with Addison, Diann, and Raul I began to recognize something about most of my answers to Raul’s forward questions. They were shallow and often based on a well formulated opinions I had heard from some previous intellectual Christian. One day we were discussing spiritual warfare and I remember mentioning something along the lines of believing the enemy has various strongholds in different regions of the world. Immediately after hearing this statement Raul asked, “where does it say this in the Bible?” I couldn’t give an answer. The only responses I knew how to give were Christianese answers filled with more opinion than the Word of God.
I knew after several of these instances that my knowledge of the Bible needed growth. I thank God for Raul’s questions because they challenged me to support my “adopted belief statements” with scripture and truth. A longing to read, study, and memorize scripture grew in me this month like never before. To God be the Glory for growing this desire and surrounding me with fellow Christians that challenged me in my belief instead of complacently agreeing with it.
Carrying on this challenge, I want to encourage everyone following my journey to go deeper. If you are a Christ follower, pray that God daily gives you a desire to know your beliefs. Study scripture, discuss it with your friends, and ask them why they believe what they say. Explaining your faith to someone can be difficult, but practicing with other Christians is a great way to prepare yourself for when the time comes to explain it to non-believers.
“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it.” 1 Corinthians 3:1-2
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12
“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15
